This study investigates how abnormally hot temperatures affect firms’ environmental behavior in China. We find that firms exposed to abnormally hot temperatures participate in more environmental engagement. We also find that this improvement effect is driven mainly by environmental concerns, including public concerns, CEOs, and governments. Our results remain intact after an array of robustness tests. Further analysis shows that the effect of abnormally hot temperatures on corporate environmental engagement is more pronounced in SOEs, heavily polluting firms, and firms located closer to local environmental protection agencies. Moreover, the positive impact of environmental engagement on firm value is stronger when firms are exposed to abnormally hot temperatures. Overall, this study sheds light on the potential stimulation of firms’ environmental actions by global warming, which is yet to be fully understood.

Using the data of Chinese listed firms from 2003-2020, this study applies a System GMM estimation approach to document that high local government ecological concerns increase a firm’s stock price crash risk. This finding remains consistent after addressing endogeneity issues and undergoing robustness checks. This study also reveals that the implementation of the new environmental protection law in 2015 mitigates the relationship between local government ecological concerns and stock price crash risk. Further analyses indicate that stricter environmental regulation and high subsidies, as well as enhanced corporate social responsibility and governance, can effectively alleviate the adverse effect of local government ecological concerns on stock price crash risk. In addition, we note that the influence of local government ecological concerns on stock price crash risk is more significant in the eastern region, heavily polluting industries, and non-SOEs. Lastly, the research identifies two potential channels through which local government ecological concerns can impact stock price crash risk by reducing the quality of information disclosure and intensifying investor disagreement.

This study documents how the political hierarchy plays a significant role in determining corporate environmental governance. By conducting difference-in-differences analysis to investigate listed firms in China, this study demonstrates that local and central SOEs headquartered in jurisdictions far removed from central government supervision have worse environmental governance than POEs. Verticalization reforms implemented in 2016 enable provincial environmental protection bureaus to direct lower-level bureaus. Local governments cannot control environmental protection bureau leaders for economic development. This study finds that the corporate environmental governance of local SOEs has significantly improved following the reform, as local environmental protection bureaus no longer have conflicts of interest with local governments. However, the reform has not resulted in improvements to corporate environmental governance in central SOEs, whose executives occupy higher status than provincial Environmental Protection Bureau leaders, nor in POEs, which were already managed before the reform. Further evidence indicates that local SOEs experience an increase in abatement investments and relationship building expenses following the reform. Lastly, our study reveals that verticalization reform costs are negligible. Local SOEs have not experienced a decline in financial performance or corporate valuation. This study suggests that policymakers should consider the political ranking of government agencies and enterprises to improve environmental governance.

This paper investigates the causal effects of air pollution on housing prices in China using a dataset of 65 cities from 2014 to 2021. We employ the central environmental protection inspection (CEPI) as a quasi-natural experiment for air pollution index to show a negative causal relationship between air pollution and housing prices. We also find that this causal relationship is more pronounced for less-developed, manufacturing-intensive and tourismrelied cities. Our results reveal the response to central environmental protection inspection on improvement in regional air pollution protection but its by-effects on housing markets, as the impact is limited if the inspection is conducted repeatedly, suggesting its unsustainability as a regulatory tool.

Taking China Pilot Free Trade Zone (PFTZ) as a new perspective of institutional environment optimization, this paper investigates its impact on corporate ESG performance. We find that the PFTZ positively enhances corporate ESG performance, which remains robust after various checks. The mechanism analysis shows that improving corporate environmental protection capacity and management efficiency are the main channels while strengthening labor protection and easing financial constraints can enhance the positive effect. Moreover, the positive effect of the PFTZ on corporate ESG performance is more pronounced in coastal regions, the service sector, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs).

Using the firm-level data of the Chinese industrial sector from 1998 to 2010, this study investigates the impact of the previous environmental protection experience of prefecture-level Communist Party secretaries on the COD regulation within the secretaries’ respective jurisdictions. The study finds that the secretaries’ previous environmental protection experience has reduced the COD discharge intensity. The duration of the previous environmental protection experience is selected as an instrumental variable and the endogeneity is further addressed; the research conclusion remains unchanged. However, this negative impact only lasts for two years and presents an unclear long-term impact. The negative effect on COD discharge intensity caused by the previous environmental protection experience is affected by the mandatory regulation pressure from the central government and the overall polluting density of the sub-sectors. Secretaries with previous environmental protection experience do not reduce the COD discharge intensity by using the punishment mechanism of increasing sewage charges. The secretaries, instead, encourage enterprises to use clean production technology, save water resources, and reduce the produced COD level. Also, the secretaries place an emphasis on the treatment of wastewater pollutants, thus reducing the COD discharge intensity. The conclusions of this study can provide decisionmaking reference for the selection and training of local officials, with the goal of environmental regulation.

Objective: In order to prevent and cure the more and more worse greenhouse effects, climate change impacts and living environment for man kinds, new dangerious factors must be found, identified and prevented. Method: Summarized and research the facts of China as the top consumer of refrigerant. So China is the top consumer and elininater of the Freon and alike chemicals. So call for preventing and curing the worse green house effects, climate change impacts caused by the Freon and alike chemicals. Results: As China is the biggest country in the world with 1.4billions people and top economic power. China should be the leader to control the Freon and alike chemicals, and the green house effect and the global warming. But now, China has been still being the top consumer of the Freon and alike chemicals or the top consumer of refrigerant. We must face squarely what shortcomings we have had. And correct it at once.As the facts tell us the Freon and alike chemicals have been the dangerious factors of the green house effect and the global warming. So we can create new policy and science to reduce and control the Freon and alike chemicals at once. And so on the green house effect and the global warming. Everywhere in China there has been being all air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators have been consuming and emitting the Freon and alike chemicals. After China had been producing main part of CFC of Freon in the world. And the CFC of Freon have been banned. China has been changing to HCFC of Freon and HFC of Freon as substitutes. It has been being known to all that every place in China, where people live and work. There must have air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators. From family households, factories, government offices, hospitals, tools of transportation, even the spacecrafts have been being equipped with air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators. All the air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators have been consuming and emitting the HCFC of Freon and HFC of Freon after CFC of Freon. Because the China is the biggest country in the world. The population of China is the much too more than any other country in the world. So the family households, factories, government offices, hospitals, tools of transportation must be much too more than any other country in the world. Therefore, the air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators also must be much too more than any other country in the world. At present, China must have been consuming and emitting the HCFC of Freon and HFC of Freon more than other countries. HCFC and HFC of Freon are not green products and environmental protection products Though HCFC of Freon has less effect to deplete the Ozone Layer. But it is not the perfect substances. Some HCFC of Freon have been being banned from usage. Which indicate that the HCFC of Freon are not green products and environmental protection products. While theoretically, the ODP (The Ozone Depletion Potential) of HFC of Freon is 0. But the Global warming potential(GWP) is very high. Therefore, the HFC of Freon are also not green products and environmental protection products. While China has been being the biggest and main producer and consumer of the banned CFC of Freon and the biggest and main producer and consumer of the HCFC and HFC of Freon. So Chinese air conditioners, ice chestn and refrigerators must make more Ozone Depletion and Global warming substances. Conclusion: The concrete policies must be created as soon as possible. Reducing the top consumer and elininater of the Freon and alike chemicals or create new chemicals without the worse green house effects, climate change impacts were China’s and world’s imperative policy.

Using the firm-level data of the Chinese industrial sector from 1998 to 2010, this study investigates the impact of the previous environmental protection experience of prefecture-level Communist Party secretaries on the COD regulation within the secretaries’ respective jurisdictions. The study finds that the secretaries’ previous environmental protection experience has reduced the COD discharge intensity. The duration of the previous environmental protection experience is selected as an instrumental variable and the endogeneity is further addressed; the research conclusion remains unchanged. However, this negative impact only lasts for two years and presents an unclear long-term impact. The negative effect on COD discharge intensity caused by the previous environmental protection experience is affected by the mandatory regulation pressure from the central government and the overall polluting density of the sub-sectors. Secretaries with previous environmental protection experience do not reduce the COD discharge intensity by using the punishment mechanism of increasing sewage charges. The secretaries, instead, encourage enterprises to use clean production technology, save water resources, and reduce the produced COD level. Also, the secretaries place an emphasis on the treatment of wastewater pollutants, thus reducing the COD discharge intensity. The conclusions of this study can provide decisionmaking reference for the selection and training of local officials, with the goal of environmental regulation.

We conducted an assessment of the impact of Property Rights on the toxic emissions of Chinese industrial firms. Specifically, we focused on the 2007 enactment of the Property Law in China and utilized difference-in-difference estimations to analyze firms’ pollutant emissions. Our findings reveal compelling evidence that firms with low net fixed assets considerably reduce their chemical oxygen demand (COD) emissions after the implementation of the Property Law. Moreover, the effect is more prominent in firms that face stronger financial constraints and are situated in areas with high external pressure on environmental protection or robust government monitoring. We concluded that the Property Law's influence on firms’ toxic emissions is through improving credit conditions and technology upgrades. Overall, our results indicate that a well-established Property Law has a significant impact on industrial firms' environmental policies.

Environmental information disclosure is an effective way for corporate to fulfill environmental protection responsibilities and encourage environmental self-inspection and management. In this paper, we utilize the environment fee to tax reform implemented in 2018 as a quasi-experiment, to investigate the impact of mandatory environmental regulation change on firm environmental information disclosure quality. Using data from listed companies in China between 2015-2020, we found that the mandatary environment regulation positively affects the monetary and non-monetary environmental information disclosure in heavy polluting industries. We also found that, firms with higher environmental subsidies and market value tend to disclose more information. The mechanism analysis shows that external governance and internal control mediate the effect of mandatory environmental regulation on environmental information disclosure quality. Compared to a growing literature on voluntary regulation, our findings provide evidence emphasizing the role of mandatory regulation of government incentives in environmental improvement.